abrdn plc cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,816,397 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 629,717 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 5.5% of abrdn plc's holdings, making the stock its biggest position. abrdn plc owned 0.08% of Apple worth $2,976,544,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 39.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 43,098 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $10,042,000 after acquiring an additional 12,204 shares during the last quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 5.1% in the third quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 248,496 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $57,900,000 after purchasing an additional 12,130 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Apple by 5.7% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 9,363 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,182,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Apple by 50.1% during the third quarter. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 39,214 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $9,137,000 after purchasing an additional 13,085 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple by 3.4% during the third quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 223,982 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $51,644,000 after purchasing an additional 7,365 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Apple Stock Performance
Shares of AAPL traded down $3.39 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $252.20. The stock had a trading volume of 35,435,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,203,777. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The company has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.48, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $237.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $227.89.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm's revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research firms have recently commented on AAPL. KeyCorp downgraded Apple from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. New Street Research reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.47.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on AAPL
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
About Apple
(
Free Report)
Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.
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